Where Has the Time Gone

I'll be surprised if anyone even notices this post since I haven't written one in some time..  This hasn't been the best of years for me and as many of you on Facebook know, I've been laid up for a while.  I won't go into long details, but I had back surgery in late June.  I had a synobila cyst on my facet joint, or bone, in this case.  Long story short, I not only had the cyst removed, but the entire bone was also removed.  The surgeon said the cyst was "super glued" onto the bone, making it impossible for him to aspirate it, having to remove the right facet bone on the L (lumbar) 4 & 5...lower back.  I now have 2 pins holding my spine up, so I'll probably set off all kinds of alarms when I go through airport security!!  LOL

Not able to start from the beginning, but I will say that I am now involved in with a group of folks who are trying to get a Dia de los Muertos show here in El Paso,, we're called the Borderland Fridas with a couple of "Diegos" to share in the fun, and we're shooting for this to be a rather big yearly event.  Since I didn't have the entire summer to work at this, I've been burning the midnight oil trying to get as much done as possible.  Don't know if I'll have enough inventory for the show, but I'm going to give it my best shot!  I'll post of few things that I have made in the last few months, though.

I was approached by the El Paso Museum of Art to provide the museum story with some of my skelly art, and that's been loads of fun.  About a week after the surgery, I was able to get on the ol' desk top for a few minutes to catch up on emails and I found one from the director of  the store.  I had a special order for a 20"x10" shadow box for my bride and groom.  I immediately answered wrote her back and told her it would be a while before I could get it done....thankfully, the patron was in no big rush.  I spent those weeks recovering in bed as to how I would create this since I hadn't ever made anything in that large a scale and it was going to take some engineering.  Long story short, I was able to find a wonderful woodcrafter living in Las Cruces, NM, just up the road from me, thanks to my friend who lives there, and engineer this rather audacious feat, ok, audacious for me anyway.  It turned out really good, but I now look back and I could have done much better...next time, since I ordered 2 more boxes of that size.

So here are some of the creations I've made since the late summer and will post more later...it's late and I'm tired, so time for me to hit the ol' cama (bed).  Hope you enjoy my little slide show.  I know many of you on Facebook have seen these but for those you who don't subscribe to it, here it is.

Ok, I'm falling asleep, so time for mimis, but I do have a favor to ask of some of you.  If your Micahels's or other craft stores sell those really cute laser cut frames, the smaller ones, please let me know.  I will be more than happy to pay for any that you might find.  Our Michael's here sucks!!  Have a great week and hope I hear from some of you.  Peace out.